So Long But Not Gone
by logica
Summary: A simple story about stubborn secrets in the heart. Possible Hyde
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

She was sitting in front of her desk, staring almost blankly at the typewriter with the empty piece of white paper sticking out. "Great, Donna, just great! You have two and a half days to write this and it's now that your mind has decided to go on a vacation!" Placing her head in her hands, she let out a quiet groan and shut her eyes. Usually she would receive some inspiration when her eyes would see nothing else but the absence of light and Donna hoped that the same would happen this time as well.

She took in a deep breath and let her mind wander off but not too far away so it would lose any hint of some good words she could type on the paper.

Black and empty.

"Argh!" She slammed her hand on the wooden desk and pushed herself back on her chair. Nothing was coming to her – the wall had only gotten bigger, blocking out even the tiniest bits of much desired inspiration. "Now I won't be able to write anything, and once again that little bitch Melanie is going to somehow miraculously come out with a story and I'm going to end up screwed again!" Throwing her hair back, the redhead sighed, annoyed. She then heard the phone ring.

"Yeah?" she picked it up.

"Bad day?" His voice was close to teasing.

"It can get worse," Donna replied.

"How's your writing?" he asked.

"Um...it's going..." she placed her gaze on the empty paper, "It's going good. I've started something, so..."

"Then your writer's block has disappeared at long last?"

She smirked. "Yeah, something like that," she lied.

"Good."

"So how's it with you? How did the exam go?"

"Horrible. When I sat there and the looks those professors gave me I thought they were ready to chop off my head and serve it on a platter!"

"You flunked?" Donna got worried. She knew how important this exam was to him.

"Nah, I passed!"

A wanting smile appeared on her face. "That's great! Congratulations! So Mr. Chapny finally gave in."

"Yes, I'm gonna remember that bastard forever for setting me back almost two years." There was a pause and then a loud and short laughter.

"Aha. You must feel terrible that I've gotten ahead of you," Donna teased him. She enjoyed annoying him like that; his reaction had always been a precious moment for her.

"I'm green with envy, Donna. But at least you didn't stumble on a grudge with the old goat!"

She couldn't hold back her chuckles. "Keep it up, Eric. You're coming close to being second to Hyde with such 'masculine' anger and ooh those comments!" There she went again.

"I would love for you to be in my shoes right now!"

"Yeah? Why?" she faked her unawareness. If he could only see her large grin right now.

"Just how much time did you and Hyde spend together time last summer?"

She could imagine him lifting an eyebrow in response. "Now why do you say that?"

"Never mind."

"Hmm... So should we start preparing for the party yet?"

"Yeah. Although I think it would be good to celebrate it back home."

"What?" Donna felt something push her forward. "W-why?" she stuttered.

"It'll be nice to see my parents again," Eric explained. "And the other butt-heads," he chuckled.

"Yeah, but, um...we could just invite your parents here and the others."

"No, I regret that my stay with them was much shorter than I wanted it to be last year and..." he stopped when he noticed the awkward silence on the other line. "Donna?"

Her gaze got lost in the small black dot on the green wall by the window. Of course she missed home and the people dear to her but from the way she left it last year it itched inside for her to remain here. "Yes... maybe we could stay here this summer?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Well we've gone back there almost every summer and maybe this year we could... you know, spend time here?"

"Is something wrong?" he asked curiously.

"No, it's just we're not kids anymore, Eric."

"Donna, Donna... what _happened_ to you last year??" he jokingly asked.

"Nothing!" She grew defensive but with caution and hope that he would not notice it. Holding her breath she then slowly released it. "You know what? You're right." She suddenly had a change of heart. "It's a nice idea to celebrate at home."

"Err, ok... so now you want to go?"

"Yeah, I think it'll be great." She nodded. The sentences she had been building up previously would have exploded on her later on where she would have ended up saying something about which she should have kept silent.

"Why did you refuse before?"

"I think I'm just tired," she rubbed her right eye and then placed her hand behind her head. "My mind is... close to exploding at times."

"Alright then... I'll see you tonight, I'm just going to go to meet Sebastian, ok?"

"Ok."

"Bye!"

"Bye, Eric." Hanging up the phone, Donna then crossed her arms and drew out a deep breath. The fight was nasty; it only drove them both much further away from each other. Honestly looking at the situation, it had been unnecessary but it still happened. She did not want to go back to that... or did she?

Her eyes traveled over to the window. She could see the full moon. Getting up, Donna walked over to the window and opened it to have a clearer view. The clouds had pity tonight, the moon shone quite brightly. Thanks to that conversation with Eric, her thoughts had started running around without order in her mind. But the view of the now almost white moon had settled them for a good five seconds. It was beautiful: its shape and the glow it gave out. She hadn't seen this in such a long time; the last time had been –

"Urgh!" Donna shut her eyes. The memories were returning. "Really good! First, I can't come up with anything to write and now this!" With an annoyed sigh, she shut the window and returned to her previous space, crashing down on the chair. "Alright, Donna... give yourself a good break and just concentrate already!" she forced herself and brought the chair closer to the desk. She had to arrange her thoughts in a line, otherwise she might even have trouble sleeping tonight. "Fucked up," she thought.

The empty piece of paper was once again the centre of her view.


	2. chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

She closed her orange bag and sat down on the seat no.4 in the bus next to an old woman with white braided hair. Donna smiled when she saw the style which this woman had: she must have been close to 60 years old but the long hair which was loosely braided at the back and held together by a rainbow-colored butterfly pin, the white t-shirt with a giant red flower and green letters that read 'forever young!', the green pants and even the green and red sandals, made her seem interesting in a nice way. Feeling impolite with the continuous amused gaze, Donna turned towards the window. The redhead felt somewhat plain in comparison with a woman almost 45 or more years older because of the clothing. She only had a simple black checkered shirt and blue jeans, the usual sneakers she always wore and were close to the fate of being torn by such intensive usage, and as for her hair, being slightly longer than before, was being - if it were possible - crushed between her back and the seat.

The bus began to move and she felt the small vibrations beneath her feet. Turning her head back to the old woman, Donna had to mention it. "That's a nice outfit," she said.

The woman looked at her with kind brown eyes and smiled. "Thank you, young lady."

"I don't mean for it to sound awkward, it's just that I haven't seen many women this age dressed like this. It's cool."

The woman appeared to have had taken this as a compliment, which put Donna at ease. Otherwise, the poor girl would have felt more than just plain embarrassed. "I don't like all those silly dresses and clothes that make me look so old. Well, I do look old, I'm reaching my 70's soon," she let out a giggle, "but inside I feel like I am still 24," and winked.

"Ah that's nice," Donna nodded.

"Your heart always stays young. What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Donna."

"Lovely to meet you. I'm Mary. And please no 'Ma'am' or anything like that, I prefer just Mary."

"Alright," she chuckled. "Nice to meet you, too, Mary."

"Are you going on holiday?"

"Sort of, Point Peak is where I live actually. I finished University last year and now I come here every summer... almost."

"So your family is there."

"Yes and some of my friends."

"That's nice." Mary smiled. "I have grandchildren there. Oh I think I have a picture of them!" She took out a color photo of two small raven-haired children sitting on the grass from her purse and showed it to Donna. "This is Stephanie, she's 4, and this is little Tommy, he will be 2 years old next month," she spoke of them with much pride in her voice.

"They are adorable."

"They have my son's eyes. Stephanie always calls me Granny Mary," she laughed fondly. "They always make my trip there worthwhile."

"Must be a real joy to have kids."

Mary put the photo back in her purse. "You're still young, Donna." She tapped Donna's shoulder. "But be careful who you choose as their father when it is time. The commitment to each other and the children is not an easy thing to maintain." She sighed. "But listen to me, giving you such boring lectures when you are still so young. I'm sorry."

"No, no. I appreciate the advice, thank you." Donna smiled. Mary had a point. "I was engaged to my current boyfriend whom I guess I still want to have kids with but we sort of broke it off now." She felt at ease enough to talk about this. Mary appeared like a nice, even though old, woman.

"I never thought marriage at such an early age was a wise idea."

"Yeah, I've been having the same thoughts about it. But, back then, it felt different as he and I know each other ever since we were kids."

"What happened?"

"I felt there were more things in my life I wanted to do before I settled down, this was just such big pressure."

"Good. Usually it isn't a good idea to marry your only boyfriend."

"I've had other boyfriends..." Donna paused and begun playing with her fingers. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, my dear."

"Do you think that there could be such a thing as two people who are meant to be? Who, no matter who else they are with or what they do, in the end have to end up together?" Donna felt like she wanted to laugh at herself for asking this absurd question, and to a stranger, at that.

"Oh yes! I'm a great believer in faith. And that does exist. It truly does. No matter what you do, you will always end up with that person because that is what faith has written for you. It's how I felt about my second husband, to be honest. "

Donna wanted to smile but couldn't, as it wasn't the answer she'd wanted.

Mary noticed this. "Was this meant about you and your boyfriend?"

"I don't know." Donna took a glimpse of her hands. "Some uncomfortable situations happened last year and I began asking myself that question a lot lately."

"Well, whatever it is, if it is meant to happen, it will happen, no matter how strange it seems."

"I guess so." Donna looked back at Mary and then turned to the window before exhaling deeply. "But I wish some things never happened," she thought while watching the fields and trees being passed with high speed by the moving bus.

* * *

It was 8 in the evening when Donna stepped off the bus and decided to walk towards her old home as she had little weight to carry in her bags. She didn't pack much because she wasn't planning on staying long here. "Perhaps a week the most," she thought and crossed the street.

Soon she stood in front of her house. Everything had remained the same yet again. All the lights were out which made Donna assume that no one was home. She did not tell her father when she was arriving. Setting her small suitcase on the ground, she shoved her hand inside her orange bag and then pulled out a key. Donna remained there for a while, staring at the key in her hand. Her day had not started well.

She went to the magazine office where she took a job as a writer, quite fortunately as well. Not surprising that she found out Melanie had already handed over her story, but Donna managed to remain 50 words short and her boss was not pleased. She sat on a chair in front of his desk and waited for bad news as he kept pacing around the room. "This is the second time, Donna," he told her, "and it is not looking well for you. But because your previous works have been good, I'm giving you three weeks to complete a good fiction story for the new issue. You manage to do that and your job is secure here."

Donna sighed. "Three weeks... what in hell am I supposed to come up with in three weeks?" she wondered and shook her head. Putting the key in the keyhole, she was about to unlock the door when she heard a motorcycle pull up not far away. Turning around, she could not make out a face at first due to the absence of light where the motorcycle was parked, but when the figure approached the lit piece of ground, Donna took in an uneasy breath and remained firmly in place.

He walked slowly. It was barely four feet away from her at where he stood and in the clothes so familiar: nice jeans and a t-shirt. "Welcome back," he said.

"Thanks, Hyde," she responded quietly. The site of him registered an expected awkwardness inside her.

"Did you have a good ride?"

"Yeah, I met this nice old lady. We had a good talk."

"That's cool." Calm and hidden behind those shades. No changes once more. If she only knew that he did not feel that much differently from her. But it felt too early to show anything.

"What are you doing here?"

"Mrs. Forman told me that you and Eric were coming today and I saw the light here so I thought..."

"Ok."

"Is Eric here?" he asked in an even tone.

"No, he had some stuff to finish up. He's gonna come tomorrow."

"I see."

A long silence appeared; a car passing by was heard and after that only the quiet sound of crickets. The two young people stared gracelessly at each other for what appeared to be ten minutes without words. Perhaps they were making a bigger chaos about this, although a silent one, than it was required but that was them. In this moment they felt reserved with their words and absent with their movements. Donna could feel his powerful gaze even though it was safely covered by the dark shades; it made her nervous, and she did not like it. She wanted everything to get dark so she would not see him although inside she knew that even then she would still feel the stare. Donna wanted him to leave but she lacked the courage to tell him. A voice inside kept telling her that this current attitude was stupid, but she did not listen to it.

"Donna! You're here!" Kitty Forman's voice was heard as she appeared at the back door. That call managed to break the invisible string that kept Hyde and Donna in their strange, still mood.

The redhead turned towards Kitty. "Good evening Mrs. Forman. Yeah, I just arrived a few minutes ago," she finally released a smile.

"Oh, hey Steven," Kitty smiled at the young man while she headed towards Donna to give her a welcome hug.

"Good evening as well," Hyde nodded and pressed his lips tightly.

"Eric told me that he is coming tomorrow. Come in for some dinner? We started a bit late tonight."

"Ah, well I'm a little tired."

"I cooked too much to let all that food go to waste, Donna. I am going to be very disappointed if you don't help out." Kitty placed her hands on her waist.

Donna smiled once more, she could not refuse. Eric's mom has always been a good soul. "Sure, I'll come."

"Good! Get your things! You're going to take them home later," Kitty responded and watched Donna pick up her suitcase. She then noticed Hyde was preparing to leave.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked him.

"Uh, home," Hyde pointed with his thumb behind him.

"No, you are going to stay for dinner as well!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Forman, but I think it's better if I go," he glanced at Donna.

"Just because you have your own apartment now, that is no excuse to refuse my invitation, young man," Kitty put on her famous motherly voice.

"Yes, but -"

"Steven!" Kitty interrupted him with a, this time, firmer voice.

"Ok, ok." He followed Donna into the house. His stomach had begun begging for food twenty minutes ago.

* * *

"So, Donna, how is work?" Kitty asked when she placed the brown pot of mashed potatoes on the table.

"It's good. There have been some small problems but overall it's good," Donna replied.

"Oh, what kind of problems?"

"Well," Donna looked at the food on her plate before she said: "I've been having problems coming up with good stories the last two months and that has kinda been putting me in a… um, bad spot." Taking a piece of the chicken and some peas in her mouth she began chewing.

"I'm sorry, I hope it will get better soon," Kitty told her with a compassionate voice.

"Yeah, me too, as I like my job. Well, the pay's good at least."

"So what's the problem?" Hyde asked while looking at Donna.

"What?"

"Why can't you write good stuff?"

If this hadn't been an innocent question and in some way the truth, Donna would have taken it as an insult. "I don't know," she said. "Lack of inspiration. Unnerving, what can I say."

"You've made a good choice coming back this summer," Kitty told her while taking the glass out of the cupboard. "Your inspiration will be back in less than two days!"

"Oh I really wish for that to happen. If I don't come up with anything after three weeks, I'm scre-... I mean I'll be in big trouble."

"Tough," Hyde said and received a look from Donna.

"No kidding." She took another bite. Then the ringing of the phone was heard. Kitty went to the living room.

"Why didn't she pick up this one," Donna pointed with her fork toward the kitchen phone.

"It's not working," Hyde said.

"Oh, right."

The two people ate in silence for a while.

"How's life?" he then broke that silence.

"I think it's going to turn worse," she thought and then replied: "Boring."

"Yeah, with Forman it usually is." Hyde gave a smirk.

Donna cringed inside at how right he was with that sentence despite that it had only been a joke. "I keep hearing that enough from Jackie, thank you very much," her tone did not pick up a cheerful mood.

Hyde observed the redhead and the slow tempo with which she was eating. They heard Kitty's laughter from the other room; at least she was having a better time than these two were. "You should relax, man. It's been a year now," he said.

"I haven't noticed," she shrugged.

"You're still pissed about that?"

"Yeah I am."

"It's pathetic."

"Thanks for the in-depth analysis, Hyde." She was hitting the sarcastic stage again.

They heard the phone ring once more.

"Don't go into the Jackie-state, Donna. It doesn't suit you."

"Really," she did not sound surprised.

"Yes."

"You were the one that came out being such a-" she didn't get to finish her sentence when Kitty appeared at the door.

"Donna, Eric's on the phone!"

"Great. I was just thinking about him." She attempted her fake smile and threw a cold look over to Hyde before she rushed to the living room.

Donna and Eric talked for nearly eight minutes and basically made plans for tomorrow. Speaking with him painted a lighter mood inside her when she needed it badly. Hanging up the phone, she then returned to the kitchen only to find Hyde had left. "Oh, where did Hyde go?" she asked Kitty.

"He was in a hurry to go somewhere, didn't tell me where. But at least he cleaned up his plate." Kitty smiled and gathered the empty plates.

"That's some relief," Donna thought and then assisted Mrs. Forman in the cleaning.


	3. chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

It had been eleven at night when Donna changed into her comfortable pajamas. "He had to be the first person I saw. It just had to be him." Folding her arms she shook her head and exhaled. When she closed her eyes, the memories from that night began drifting back in front of her, forming solid images.

* * *

THE PREVIOUS SUMMER

The moon was glowing brightly tonight; around her the purple clouds stood on a small distance away to form an almost mystic-like frame. Perhaps soon those clouds would drift away and uncover the stars to shine as brightly as the now full moon.

She crossed her legs as tightly as possible and as closely to her body as she could. Covering her eyes with her eyelids she wished to only enjoy the sweet smell of a cool summer air. As it traveled down to her lungs and then slowly back to finally exit through her nostrils, Donna smiled to that short but good sensation.

Eric had returned to college two days ago because of the huge amount of material he had to study whilst Donna decided to remain here at home for a few more days as she needed more time to enjoy her deserved vacation. College was behind her and now the painful search of jobs would follow. Before that came, the young redhead wanted to gather more strength from here. She had to admit that at times it seemed sad how closely she was still attached to Point Place. Donna knew that her new life, the one leading to boring adulthood required new beginnings and separation from so many things she had gotten attached to from her childhood. She spent long months and years away from here but somehow something was still drawing her back. Inside she wished that whatever that was, soon with time it would fall away or at least shrink to a size that it would be unnoticeable.

"Here." She heard a voice and opened her eyes to see a hand holding a can of beer.

"Thanks," Donna smiled and took the can. When opening it, she asked: "What did Jackie say?"

"Tomorrow would be fine," Hyde said and sat down next to her.

"Cool," Donna nodded and took a sip from her beer. She cocked an eyebrow at her friend. "Kelso isn't 'paying' is he?" she spoke with reserved warning.

"No, man. It's Jackie's treat this time."

"Good. 'Cause I don't want another mortifying experience like his famous dine and dash thing."

"Ah yeah," he chuckled.

"You had a good laugh then didn't you?" she told him.

"It was good torturing you two," he pointed at her with the can in his hand.

"But our revenge was even better." Donna raised her eyebrows and showed a large grin. "I swear, you and Kelso nearly killed each other when you ran to the toilet."

Hyde drank his beer. "Sweet memories."

"Still into the more dirty things are we?" she asked.

He chuckled. "What do you think?"

"And dangerous?"

Hyde only gave her a calm look but one which spoke a million words. His eyes always did that.

"Right. Why did I ask?" she threw her right arm into the air before collapsing it on her knee; had she done it any faster, her knee would have felt like a spike. "Something about you that will never die out," a satisfying smile appeared.

"Being a rebel is part of a young man, or young woman's," he glanced at her, "life. Otherwise it's almost like you don't exist."

"Um, maybe." Donna leaned back with her hands on the dark green grass. "So forever rebel in that case, right?"

"Yeah." He then turned his head to look at her. "What happened to you in that zone, man?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she smirked.

"You used to be one of the craziest people I knew. Now I barely notice that in you. Scary thing is that it's less and less noticeable each time I see you. What happened?"

"I'm growing up, Hyde. We all are," she told him.

"Yeah but you don't see me turn into the geriatric type, do you."

"Hey, I'm not old!" She laughed.

"You're sure acting like you are." His tone did not have a comical feel.

"That's not true."

"I happen to think that it is."

"I happen to think that it isn't."

"Friends usually warn friends not to screw up parts of their lives."

"You think that's what I'm doing?"

He didn't answer.

Donna gave a fake laugh. "Imagine that." Her voice was leaving the sympathetic gentleness. She gazed ahead, appearing annoyed. He could annoy her effortlessly. Somehow he knew which buttons to push every single time.

"Fine, I'm just telling you what I see," Hyde did the same.

"I am acting my age at least."

"What age? 80?"

"Hyde, shut up," she told him. A long and uncomfortable silence followed.

He sighed. She would make him open again. She always did that unconsciously and perhaps that is why he would avoid her so rigorously sometimes. Hyde did not wish to enter that scenario where Donna would actually become aware of it. "We've known each other since forever. And that wild side actually gave you a nice spark. I've missed that about you," he told her with deep honesty in his voice.

The wind had begun making small waves in the water, caressing it gently. But the wind would remain in its calm borders; it would wait for these two young people to talk in ease.

Her blue eyes turned slowly over to him. His back was facing her, so she couldn't see his face. "I'm still the same."

"You're a terrible liar, Donna."

"I'm not," she was quieter.

He finally turned around to face her fully. Putting the beer on a safe distance from him, he removed his sunglasses and uncovered his gentle blue eyes. They always made him look more vulnerable; perhaps that is why he wore those glasses so often. "You're a cool person, man. I don't want to see you grow old before your time like so many people our age do. It's not like you. And that's exactly what you're doing now. You're getting old."

Pushing herself up from the ground, she sat up with her hands resting helplessly between her crossed knees. "I'm not being old, Hyde, but I'm not a kid anymore. I'm still me."

"Well I have damn trouble recognizing you."

Her eyebrows arched sadly as she placed her right hand on his left arm. Although she was denying it, her heart was beginning to call to her from inside, confirming Hyde's words: she was getting older before her time.

"Maybe," she swallowed hard as her eyes were slowly unlocking a door inside his. "Maybe you don't know me so well then."

"If I didn't then I wouldn't be telling you this." He did not want to appear open but it appeared difficult before her like this. He wanted to convince her of what was happening with his best friend, and it would appear more difficult if he stood tough like before. She needed honesty.

Donna wanted to look away but her gaze had alarmingly become locked with Hyde's. She had trust in him because she knew him; respected him because she loved him and loved him because she respected him. "I came here to relax, Hyde. I didn't come for lectures."

"Does this sound like a lecture to you?" What she said nearly disappointed him.

"Eric likes me as I am."

"He likes you because you are becoming like him."

"Eric isn't boring," she said and then noticed the odd look he was giving her. "Alright, so maybe sometimes he is, but you cannot expect someone to be interesting 24 hours a day after so many years in a relationship."

"I'm beginning to think that maybe that relationship, at least lately..." he did not finish his sentence as he realized that this would sound like a harsh accusation.

"So now you're blaming Eric for what, in your opinion, is happening to me??" The annoyance grew. Too late.

"No, no I'm not," he said.

"Then what?" she stood up, crossing her arms.

Hyde stood up as well. "I don't know what I meant," he lied.

"_You're_ a terrible liar now. Tell me."

"I'm not going to say anything because there isn't anything. He's my best friend and so are you and I love you guys, man."

"But you are blaming him." Her aggravation was easing up.

"I'm not. I can't do that."

"I'll repeat: then what?"

"You two do whatever you want but I have seen you being happier when you let that rebel inside become active. And I want you, _need you_ to be happy because I love you, man."

Donna dropped her eyes on the ground when she heard him say, "I'm going to do something now, and I'll know where you stand if you react the way I'm... hoping you would."

Before Donna could look up, her lips were brushed against the warm and sugary taste of his skin. Her hands were instinctively ready to push him away when her mind, suddenly being overcome by the disturbing wave of delight, ordered them instead to remain on the rugged fabric of his t- shirt. Being unconsciously tamed by his scent she even took it that far by responding to the kiss.

The surreal moment lasted long. When it finally broke and they opened their eyes slowly, Donna swallowed hard once again and looked intensively in his eyes where she saw both regret and even disappointment. Realizing the wrongness of the moment which just passed she pushed herself away and became trapped in her sudden indecisiveness of whether to slap him and walk away or simply walk away. She did neither. "You're insane," Donna told him.

"But you aren't," he sighed and picked up his glasses. Putting them on, he waited for a reaction but when he didn't receive one he began walking away.

"What did you think you actually did with that?" she called to him.

"I proved my point, man." He stopped and turned around.

"Aha, and what did you expect me to have done?"

"Well if you were your... old self, you would have done the same thing you did when we were in Jackie's cabin."

"Slap you?"

"Yeah."

"And that proves that I'm this boring old person now? Because I didn't end it sooner, because I didn't slap you?"

He nodded in response.

Donna groaned. "That's ridiculous!" she collapsed her arm.

"To me it's not. Donna, man if you... no, never mind, forget I ever mentioned this."

"I can't forget it now!" She was feeling irritated towards him but involuntarily at herself as well.

"Why didn't you pull away the very second that I kissed you?" he raised his voice slightly.

"I don't know."

"You need to do some serious rethinking of your life, Donna. Yesterday when you were telling me what you were planning for your future, it seemed so boring, so unimaginative! So decayed! The way you're going, by the time you're forty, you'll be regretting a million things you wished you had done!"

"So am I supposed to feel guilty because you don't like my careful planning of the future?"

"Careful? Exactly, too careful! You don't live your life enough! You've become too chicken to let go."

"This isn't your life, you know!"

"It's not but I want to warn you before it's too late."

Donna was quiet for a while as she felt the pressure building up inside her, pushing behind her eyes for the salty liquid to appear. "Why do you give a shit??"

"I give a shit because you're an important person to me, man. Because I love you and because I can't just stand aside and let you make a gigantic mistake of keeping your life behind brick walls and end up regretting it every single day!"

His words were burring themselves inside her because he was right, but she did not want to admit that. The unreleased tears were already beginning to affect her breathing, choking her.

"Marry Forman. I don't care as long as it makes you happy! But do more than just marriage and finding a boring desk job! You deserve more!"

"I'm fine as I am! I don't need more advice! And it seems to me that you're the one who should listen to your words and not me!"

There was silence.

"I've been doing that ever since I can remember. I know how short life is and I'm living it without regrets... you on the other hand... you're becoming old."

"Shut up! You really don't know me!" The tears began falling. "I'm not as stupid as to not know how to arrange my own life!" she placed her hand on her forehead and lowered her head as her eyes closed.

Hearing her painful sobs, Hyde sighed and slowly approached her. When he stood in front of her, he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and spoke softly: "I just want you to be happy."

She pushed herself away again and shouted at him: "I am happy! And that... kiss! It was completely unnecessary! It was stupid!" Her rational thinking was beginning to get clouded by the growing confusion and fear. When she saw him trying to approach her again she took a step back. "Stay away from me!" she yelled and ran away, leaving Hyde standing there by the lake with the growing howling of the wind.

* * *

THE PRESENT

Taking a comfortable position on her bed, Donna watched the night sky yet again. The moon was barely visible tonight. It hadn't been only that moment itself which made her avoid her return to Point Place but rather the consequences. "What are you doing to yourself?" she whispered. Perhaps they should talk. Perhaps the idiotic stubbornness and egoism were only getting in the way of continuing her good relationship with her friend. And Hyde has always been one of her best friends. Perhaps it was time for the defenses to fall?


	4. chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

He threw his keys on the table and crashed down on the couch. Hyde had expected their meeting to be colder than usual but not so disconnected like tonight. He sighed at how withdrawn she appeared tonight, almost as if she was hiding from the events from the previous year; this also came as a surprise because Donna was never the type to run away from anything. She had always been determined to confront the problems and simply deal with them.

His decision to leave the Formans' home tonight before Donna returned came out of the obvious reason that these two young people would only continue to sit in uncomfortable silence or start a bad conversation that might turn into an argument, and that was not appropriate in front of Mrs. Forman.

Hyde accidentally glanced at the window and the picture of the moon began to slowly transport his mind to those nights.

* * *

THE PREVIOUS SUMMER

He had returned to the lake that late afternoon to drown silently into the night. Leaning on the tree that was only two feet away from the water, Hyde removed his glasses and closed his eyes. He understood why Donna had appeared like she was in a trance when he saw her and before he cruelly interrupted her to hand over the beer; it was very peaceful here and the summer air was almost intoxicating. Sometimes it takes someone the longest time to realize just how special and interesting some of the simplest things can be. This was one of them.

Enjoying the quiet sound of the night, he smiled but then heard some soft rustling, which alarmed him. Opening his eyes, he moved his head carefully to the edge of the tree and noticed a girl with a yellow cap and black sunglasses approaching the shore; he was out of her sight because of the cover which the tree he had leaned against provided for him. The girl dressed in a blue sweater and shorts stood at the very edge of the shore and smiled while looking at the tamed water. Observing her, Hyde almost took a step forward with an intention to 'chat-up' this strange girl when suddenly he stopped. The girl took off her sunglasses and then her yellow cap from which the soft red hair fell gently down to her back. It had been Donna. "Hmm... what is she doing here?" he wondered and decided to remain in his spot despite the terrible feeling of 'stalking' which the situation almost gave out; curiosity began building up inside him as he placed his hands on the tree's bark.

She looked around with caution and hope that no one was watching her. When Donna was convinced of the solitude, she pulled up her sweater to show the pink cotton bra with a tiny blue ribbon in the middle. This drew a small devilish smile on Hyde's face. Once again the redhead took a careful glimpse of her surroundings and then pulled down her shorts, which she carelessly dropped next to the blue sweater that lay on the darker green grass. She chuckled. "She's not doing what I think she is?" Hyde whispered and then his blue eyes registered how Donna's hands went down on the smooth skin on her leg that was being enlightened softly by the moon's glow, until they reached a small beaded bracelet on her left ankle. "Oh, when did she get that?" Hyde was amazed by this small piece of jewelry and the tiny amount of sexiness it gave the redhead as it rested on the thin and incredibly feminine ankle.

Donna's fingers caressed the red and orange beads before they swiftly traveled up on her body and reached her back. Feeling the temperature of his body rise with enormous speed, Hyde wanted to pull away but the dammed curiosity glued him to his spot. She took off her bra but the long locks of her hair provided a safe cover for her breasts. Immediately with another chuckle coming out of her, she reached down to remove the last piece of her underwear. This time feeling even embarrassed, Hyde diverted his gaze away. If it'd been someone else he would happily continue his observation, but Donna was his friend and it seemed awkward.

After hearing a loud splash, Hyde returned his blues to the girl that was now swimming in the lake with nothing on but her own milky skin. The moon must have liked this tall redhead as it deliberately kept a strong glow around her that provided more than enough light for this young man to watch Donna move slowly in the water. Another smile, only this time wider, decorated his face. He kept his sunglasses inside his right hand as he watched her; they would only blur the picture if he put them on and he liked what he saw in front of him. Only her head and drenched hair that dragged behind her were visible, the other more intimate parts were covered by the dark water. Donna closed her eyes and leaned on the watery surface as she made tiny circles. There was a smile on her face; she was enjoying this. A loud laughter followed, after which she made a strident splash with her arms and then dived inside.

Hyde chuckled. Despite the unpleasant argument, he knew that he had been right. This had been her, his best friend - free and satisfied if only for tonight; the spark had still been there inside her. He saw her appear on the surface again. "Whoah!" she screamed and laughed loudly like a little girl. This was perhaps the perfect opportunity to salivate over but the young man only smiled enjoyably. "That's my girl," he spoke quietly.

Then a larger stone unexpectedly rolled over and into the water making a sound which startled Donna. Hyde realized that he had accidentally kicked the stone that was next to his left foot. "Fuck," he cursed and saw how Donna suddenly froze while covering herself entirely up to her head.

"Who's there?" Donna shouted, looking nervously around. There was no reply. "My boyfriend's waiting in the car! He'll be here in a split second if I scream!"

"I thought Forman left for Madison," Hyde suddenly appeared and crossed his arms. The sunglasses were back on as he smiled fondly.

"Hyde! God! What do you think you're doing here??"

"Well, right now I'm enjoying the view," he smirked. And he wasn't lying.

"You were watching me??" Donna felt horrified. She was desperately wishing for a negative answer. Eric had had that opportunity of seeing her entirely nude and Hyde was not the desired person to follow in those footsteps.

"Well," he shrugged, glancing away. Hyde knew this seemed inappropriate but he was having fun.

"Geez! You're even more perverted than I thought! How dare you??" she was clearly irritated.

"Hey, man. I'm still a guy, you can't really blame me," he defended himself while trying to conceal his grin but it was easier to not fight it. Hyde did not have Eric's fortune in enjoying her entire body with his eyes but he was not going to tell that to Donna. Let her be fuming for a while, it was presenting her beautifully.

Donna shook her head and glanced at her clothes. "If I was dressed I would've gone up there and beaten the crap out of you right now!"

"You can come like that, I don't mind," he told her and rubbed his nose. "Or would you like me to join you in there," his devilish grin was glowing.

"Absolutely not! Would you mind leaving now?" she was still far from being calm.

"Why, man? You get to see something as extraordinary as this once in a lifetime."

"You're really having a blast with this, huh?"

"Oh yeah!"

She bit her lip and eyed her friend up. "Alright then," Donna said and dived in. "Where did you go now?" he approached the water, still sporting the grin. Then suddenly Donna emerged to the surface, splashing him with huge amounts of water. "Ahh!" he took a step back and removed his sunglasses. Hyde saw her smile; she did not take it so horridly after all. "So that's how we play right now, huh?"

"Not really. I still wish this was acid instead of water!"

"Donna, man. You can be the nastiest person when you wanna be," he told her.

"Thank you. Now, please get the hell out of here and let me enjoy my bath?"

Hyde, who was soaked badly by now, gave her a strange look. "After this? No way, man."

Donna tilted her head. "Well if you stay then I'm going to tell Eric that you tried to sexually harass me!" she lifted her eyebrows.

"Would you be so daring?" he snorted.

"You said I can be a nasty person," she chuckled. Her shyness was slowly fading but it did not encourage her to reveal anything beneath her neck.

"Well I wish Forman could see you now, 'cause he's missing one heck of a view!" and winked before feeling another big splash on him. "Geez! Easy, will ya?"

Donna laughed with satisfaction.

"You're only giving me a really bad indication to come in there, man," he told her.

"You do that and they'll be fishing for your body at the bottom of a lake tomorrow morning!"

"Won't it be obvious who did it?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No. No one knows I'm here," she shrugged and dipped her chin in the water.

Hyde watched her pleasantly. "Do you know how long it'll take me to dry these stupid clothes off now?" he protested.

"It serves you right for stalking me!"

"I wasn't stalking you, man, I... just happened to drop by at the same time as you."

"You're an asshole!" and splashed him again.

"Shit! Alright! That does it!" he took off his boots and then went for his t-shirt.

"What... what are you doing??" Donna began swimming backwards.

"What does it look like?" he said and reached for his jeans.

"Don't you dare! Hyde! I'm serious!" This had been not what she had needed. But her words did not reach him when he jumped in the lake.

When he emerged, Hyde was met by a blurrier image of Donna's pleasantly wet face. Removing the drops from his eyes, the picture had become clearer. Her hair was glued back, uncovering her face fully and the sparkle in her eyes while she watched in both shock and slight annoyance.

"You do realize that this is taking a wrong advantage of the situation, don't you," she sounded serious.

"Is that what I'm doing?" He did not appear to be too bothered about this.

"Yes! Could you please now close your eyes so I can leave?"

"What makes you think I'm going to let you?" he teased her.

"Because your face is going to be redder than a goddamn tomato by the time you reach home," she threatened him.

"I'm shaking with fear right now," he chuckled. The drops of water which were sliding down the girl's face made her seem even more appealing. But Hyde knew there were limits, he was not going to cross them…again.

Donna groaned. "Hyde."

"Come on, man. How often do you get to do this?"

"What, being harassed by you?" she pouted.

"No, skinny-dipping!"

"Alright, I do admit it's the first time I've ever done it like this but..."

"So our talk last night did get you," he smiled.

"Let's not get into that," she did not want to touch last night.

"Ok, fine. But you were enjoying yourself tonight. It was nice to see that."

Donna watched his face and how some strands of his wet hair remained on his forehead, close to his eyes before he removed them with his hand. It actually looked funny. "I thought you gave up with hitting on me by now."

"I wasn't trying to do that."

"Each time you lie it makes it worse, Hyde," she told him and began to swim away when Hyde stopped her, grabbing her left arm. Donna looked at it and then back at him.

"It's nice here, don't go," he told her softly.

"Actually, I'm not that comfortable swimming naked with you," she lied and did not struggle when he pulled her closer to him.

She looked equally beautiful being wet as she did in her drier state. Hyde was picking up every inch of her skin and every drop on her face hungrily with his eyes and he liked it. He could kiss her now; it appeared to be the perfect opportunity to taste her lips. It was only him and her and no one else was around; no one knew they were here; no one would know what would happen here. Hyde placed his hand on her cheek and caressed it until Donna quickly pulled away.

"Hyde," she told him with a flat voice. "You do anything else and I swear I will kill you myself." But he saw her jagged swallowing, a good sign for appearing nervousness.

She did not have to worry; he was not going to kiss her again no matter how tempting it appeared to him. He made that mistake last night. He couldn't do it now. He respected Eric and he respected Donna. "I wasn't going to do anything," he told her honestly.

But Donna turned away and swam to the shore. "You tried that three times this month. Three times!" and threw him a glimpse. "Please turn around!"

Hyde did so. "You've probably read wrong," he said and heard the dripping of the large drops from Donna's body as she went to get her clothing.

"I've had a lot of experience, Hyde," she replied and began dressing up. "And what was that last night, huh??"

"It wasn't what you think it was, man!" He turned around to see her and luckily she was already in the process of pulling down her blouse. This girl was always a quick dresser.

"Then what was it? That stupid test of yours to see if I still had some...'sparks' in me? Did you hope those sparks would appear in bed?!" she suddenly snapped at him.

Hyde was taken aback. He had expected her to react less fondly to what had happened but not like this. "No, man, it wasn't..."

"I had a good time here, yes! You were right about that! I was enjoying myself tonight before you appeared! And then I find out you were watching me? God, Hyde!"

He swam over to the shore. "It's not like that, man! I'm not hitting on you!"

"Please don't say any more. Just please, shut up! I was hoping to relax these couple of weeks before I went back but you're making it incredibly difficult for me!"

"Well I'm sorry! If it bothers you so damn much I won't hassle you anymore! But I was not trying to get you in bed!"

Donna threw him a sharp look.

"Don't you trust me?"

"I do! But it gets difficult at times when you act like this and especially as Eric and I are still engaged!" she sighed. "I love you, Hyde. You're my best friend! But God, you can be such an asshole at times!" she threw her hair back and ran away.

Watching her leave, Hyde exhaled and then submerged underwater, wanting to wash away her image. She was right. Maybe he had been hassling her. But it was not intentional. It would be sleazy on his part if he did that. It had been a good suggestion to stay away from her for a while. The distance would do good.

* * *

THE PRESENT

Facing the boring wall once again, Hyde sighed. It had been a year and it gave them both the needed time apart and the needed time to think, especially him. He was not going to lie that it hadn't been good seeing his friend again. He had missed her. He had missed Eric as well but Donna... "Heck, maybe because she's just a girl you used to have a crush on." Hyde shook his head and laughed at himself. "What were you thinking all those years back, man? That something was going to happen? Get a life! Find a girl. Start with something better. Hell." He sat up and looked at his hand where a silver ring stood around his index finger. He sighed again. It was the ring Donna had bought him two summers ago when she, Eric and Hyde went out for dinner one Saturday night.

They took a walk, discussing several interesting moments of their present lives when they came across this street salesman who was selling silver pieces of jewelry all lined up on a black silky surface of a wide black suitcase. Donna got excited when she saw the rings and necklaces as she had wanted to get something for herself and plus the prices were cheaper than in a real jewelry store. The man who was selling the rings and necklaces looked as normal as anyone could get with a plain red t-shirt and blue shorts, his head although shaven gave not the appearance of a thug but rather simple normality. She was looking fondly at the necklaces for a while and then picked up a thin silver chain with two small silvery seahorses in a circle hanging from it. "Ah, this one is awesome! I'll take it!" she exclaimed and handed the necklace to the man. "What do you think?" she asked Eric.

"It looks good." He nodded. "Donna, can you afford that?" Eric asked with concern; that was still silver and not cheap metal.

"Of course, silly!" she hit him gently on the chest. "Remember that money I won for my four stories and that part-time job at the shop? Well, I was saving it just for this," she said and glanced at Hyde. "Do you like it?" she asked him.

"Yeah, it's great, it suits you," he nodded.

"Good! Because I also need to buy the present for your last birthday which I didn't get."

"No, man. It's fine. It was nice enough that you called that day," he assured her.

"I owe you," she began looking at the selection of rings.

"Believe me, she won't take no for an answer for this," Eric told him. He had a similar experience twice and he knew how she could get.

Hyde only shrugged and put his hands in his pockets, looking at the rings. He glanced at his friend and saw the enthusiasm which she had while making her selection. It made him smile for a couple of seconds.

"Ohh, this one!" she picked out a thicker silver ring with two horses standing gracefully, facing each other. "What do you think?"

"Donna, man, it's fine. I don't want the ring," he said but that barely registered with the redhead as she was almost on a high.

"It's a birthday present, c'mon!" she encouraged him.

"Look, I don't want it, I got my present from you already; this is unnecessary." And he meant it; it was bad enough that she had to fuss like this but it was even worse the amount of money she would give for a damn ring which he might not even wear.

"I can pick another one!"

"No, this one is great but I don't want it."

"Hyde, if you don't take it and I'm being serious with this, I'm gonna kill you!"

"And she means it too," Eric nodded.

Hyde cocked an eye at him. "Look, I'm not comfortable with receiving expensive gifts, especially from you!"

Donna lowered her defense and looked over at Eric who said: "Hyde, it's a present from us, man. You'll - "

"Are you freakin' deaf? I said I don't want it!" He could see the disappointment in Donna's eyes and pretty soon in Eric's as well.

"Ok, if you don't want it, then fine," Donna spoke quietly and took the ring in her palm squeezing it with her hand. She looked up at the salesman. "I'll take this one as well," and turned to Hyde, "for me."

They didn't speak about it the entire time Donna and Eric had remained there before leaving back for college, almost as if it never happened. On the last day, two hours before they were leaving, Hyde heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, he found Donna standing there, smiling. "Hey."

"Hey," he greeted her back. "Aren't you still packing?" he asked her.

"I was done ages ago," she told him with her hands behind her back. "Can I come in for a minute?" Donna asked with her hair tightly secured in a ponytail and white sleeveless silk shirt that was decorated by the silver necklace with the two seahorses; this went beautifully with the black pants.

"Sure," he stepped aside and she walked into the living room; turning around she waited until Hyde closed the door and approached her.

"I wanted to give you something before I go," she said and pulled out a small black box with a white ribbon around it.

Hyde looked questionably at her. "Donna, I thought we agreed about presents," he said.

"Please," she spoke calmly and seriously but with gentleness. "I want you to have it," she told him.

He watched her for a while and saw the eagerness almost explode inside her and through her eyes. Sighing, he lifted an eyebrow and took the box. "Whatever," he said and untied the ribbon. When he opened the black box he found the silver ring with the two horses settled securely in a small black cardboard platform. Tilting his head, he glanced at her. "Donna, man. I already told you about this. I can't accept it."

"Will you stop being so damn modest? I want you to have it," she repeated and then took the ring from the box. "Here," she said and took his right hand, placing the ring slowly on his index finger.

Hyde glanced both at the ring and her as she put it on. He saw the joy in her eyes and he would feel like a complete imbecile if he was to ruin that. "It's great. Thanks, man." He kissed her cheek and gave her a strong fierce hug.

Donna smiled and closed her eyes. "I knew you would like it," she said and returned the hug.

When they separated she headed towards the door. "So I'll see you soon. Take care, alright?" She opened the door and kept her smile.

"Yeah, you and Forman both. Get rid of that boring college already," he smiled back and when she exited, he slowly closed the door behind her. He then stopped and looked at his present for a while longer, studying the figures. It really was a beautiful ring. "She has taste," he smiled and sat on the couch.

Now, when seeing this ring again for the millionth time and thinking about his encounter with Donna today, no matter how odd it seemed, Hyde was happy that they were here. "Maybe this summer would be better than the others," he told himself and got off the couch.


	5. chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

Sitting on the trunk of his car, Eric juggled the keys with his fingers. He then saw a tall figure coming towards him. "You went shopping at 10 in the morning?" he asked when seeing the giant red plastic bag she was carrying with the name _Lola_ written on it, apparently some new boutique that had opened recently. Women!

She laughed. "Like it's my first time," and approached him close enough to give him a welcoming hug. "When did you get here?"

"An hour ago."

"So you sat here by yourself? All alone?" she spoke in an irritating baby voice and beeped his nose; this action seemed to often appear from her side.

"You're never gonna stop, are you," he quickly remove her hand and shook his head with a chuckle.

"You tempt me each time, what can I say," she shrugged.

"Donna, Donna. No, I didn't wait long. I actually had to sit through an entire half an hour of my dad's speech about the future, blah blah."

She chuckled. "Poor Eric. Are we gonna go inside?"

"Ah no. I think we could use some time away from here," he replied and took her by the arm.

"Wait, wait!" she rooted herself on the ground, disabling him from pulling her further. When he stopped she raised her bag and said: "I need to put this in the house, I don't wanna drag it around with me," and rushed toward her old home. Five minutes later she returned.

"So did Sebastian throw that party for you last night?" she asked him as they were walking by the shops.

"He bailed out at the last minute. Turns out Kristy was pissed off at him for the night before when he stood her up."

"Kristy? What happened with Alisha?"

"Yeah, well he continues with his tradition of changing his girlfriends more often than his socks."

"Ah, I see."

"Something like Hyde."

"Yeah, those two would get along quite well I think. You should've brought him over."

"No, don't think he would like it here. It's too... quiet for him."

Donna only shook her head in response and glanced at the shoe shop which they were passing. It said 'summer discount' on a giant yellow sticker with red letters placed in the middle of the window. She would go inside some other time, despite the appeal of the moment.

"Hungry?" Eric asked her when they stopped in front of a pizza restaurant.

"Yeah, I was so caught up in the momentary shopping craze that I missed breakfast." She touched her stomach which only made a loud growling sound to confirm the need for food. "I think I might even order a double pizza."

"Yup. You do eat like a pig sometimes, Donna," and with this he received a sharp look. "What?" he laughed. "You do! Which is... good, it's healthy," he nodded and pointed at her. It wasn't a good sign whenever she would give him that look. "You're a healthy girl," he told her.

Donna smirked and pulled him by the arm inside the restaurant. "Let's just go!"

After the two young people found a good table close to the blue wall, they sat down. The restaurant was quite simple with seven round tables placed, on a good distance for there to be enough walking space, with deep red sheets with yellow lines and white metallic chairs. The walls were all painted with a blue color which had framed posters of more and less famous movies, mostly from the forties and fifties. There were only two other customers in the restaurant, sitting at a table in the middle, having coffee; two women, colleagues from work perhaps. They spoke quietly, enjoying the morning and the absence of the frequent crowd of people that had the habit of appearing here usually after four in the afternoon.

"I would say the same about your eating habits if you weren't so damn skinny!" She laughed and placed her right hand on the laminated yellow menu.

"Maybe I should start with some exercise? You know, get these muscles to be more noticeable." He made a strong fist and lifted his gray sleeve to show what appeared to be a measly bump on his arm.

This only provoked more laughter from his girlfriend. "And let me guess," she said while trying to catch her breath at the same time, "you are planning on competing for Mister Universe after that?" She pointed with her index finger and thumb towards him.

Sitting there, looking at her with a serious face but one where beneath it was waiting a right moment for a laugh; the way his head was slightly moving it reminded her of those bobble head dolls. This set in another amount of laughter inside the redhead.

"One day I will have my revenge," he said with a nod.

"Yeah, like when?" the grin was still there.

"I don't know but someday." Eric picked up the menu and began reading it.

* * *

After their orders were placed on the table, Eric took a sip of his drink and asked: "So I thought tonight we should go to that new place Hyde told me about. Ah, what was the name..." he looked up while trying to remember. "The Swinging Tree, I think it was called or something." He waved with his fork in front of him while explaining.

"The what?" She chuckled.

"Yeah I know, they couldn't have thought of a cornier name but he says it's a good nightclub so..."

"Hyde said that?" she lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Can't believe how many new places have opened up. Man, is this town changing..." he said, taking a bite of his pizza.

"Aha... but you know, I'm kind of tired of those nightclubs. I wanna go somewhere else," she told him.

Eric looked at her. "Don't you wanna at least see what it's like?"

"No, not that curious." Donna showed her disinterest.

"Huh," he shrugged. "If that's what you want. But it might be a good place." It was appearing obvious by his tone that he had wanted to go.

She sighed. "Eric, I've been to thousands of them, they're all pretty much the same to me by now." Taking a sip of her drink she then continued slicing her pizza.

He smirked. "Funny, Hyde told me you would hesitate about it," he pointed with his fork towards her.

She stopped chewing. "He did," Donna spoke with the food in her mouth while trying to sound unimpressed.

"Yep. He said you might prefer a nice tea party in the garden on a Sunday night." There he went with that head shaking again.

Donna would have laughed if only Hyde's sentence didn't pull out an annoying sigh out of her. "That's so like him," she then swallowed the food and picked up another piece.

"He might be right," Eric smiled and felt a scrunched napkin hitting him on the face. "Hey, I was joking!"

"You better. I'm tired of the same places. Not that I don't like them anymore or anything but I want to go somewhere else."

"Ok, ok we'll do what you want, dear," he said in a puny voice and waited for her reaction.

"Than-..." she gave him a killer look with laughter behind it when she heard that. "Alright. Stop that." Donna pointed at him.

"Whatever you say, dear."

"Eric!" She leaned forward.

"Sorry." He chuckled.

"God... you make me sound like I'm the dominant female in this relationship." She took in another bite.

"Unfortunately."

"What's that?"

"Well, it's like this: I'm a man, ok?"

Donna rolled her eyes and shook her head while giving a fleeting grin.

"There, that's what I'm saying. And because I'm a man, I should be the dominant one in this relationship. And although it makes it so hard for me to admit and this'll hurt my ego like hell..." he scrunched his face and started whining, "You make it difficult for me, Donna. Why do you make it so difficult?"

Another grin came across her as she watched him. "Well someone's gotta be the boss," she told him.

"Yeah, me," he pointed towards himself.

"No." She shook her head while her lips remained in the formed circle.

"Because it's been like this for years and it's so damn hard," he began with the whining again but you could tell he would burst into laughter any second.

"Alright, if I'm doing that... which I'm not..."

"You are," he interrupted her.

"Wha-? No. I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not!" she hissed and smiled. "If I am, I'm sorry, I'll try not to be."

"Um... ok, thanks," he nodded and kissed her cheek. Eric continued looking at her; so many years... people really do change. Unfortunately the change is not always in the desired direction. However he liked the lightness of this entire situation; he even saw, for the tenth time how good it felt to tease your partner the way she loved to tease him... it was all fun, all good, nothing cruel. A smile appeared on his lips. He felt satisfied to have spent so many years with her.


	6. chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

After much debating, the couple had decided to sit through a movie. The same drive-in was here. There had been some talks about tearing it down and making space for a new shopping mall the previous year but somehow those plans were changed. It would have been a shame if the original plans were kept and it disappeared. So many memories remained here.

Leaning on his shoulder, Donna took the bag of popcorn in her hands, waiting for the movie to begin.

"This wasn't such a bad idea after all," Eric smiled.

"So it was good that we came?" she glanced up at him with delight. It was better here; more intimate... not to say they lacked it but it brought back memories.

"Yes, dear," and kissed her briefly on the lips.

"I told you to stop that!" she sat up and hit him gently on the arm.

"Ouch," he chuckled. "I'll try," and shrugged.

"Good." Donna was about to return to her comfortable position when she heard the two back doors open. Turning behind her in confusion she saw a long-haired blonde in a tight blue t-shirt and tight black jeans enter the car and sit down behind Donna while from the other door emerged Hyde who sat down behind Eric.

"Hyde? What, what are you doing here?" she asked in full bewilderment.

"Are we late?" he asked before shutting the door.

"No, guys you're just in time..." Eric looked at his watch, "two more minutes, maybe."

"Cool, man." Hyde smiled and placed his arm on the seat behind the blonde. "Hey, Donna!"

Donna threw a glare at Eric. "Um, what's going on?" she pointed with her thumb at the couple in the back seat.

"Donna, I told you earlier that Hyde and his date were gonna come with us?"

"No, you didn't!" she protested. Donna did not seem at all comfortable with Hyde in the back seat on a night when she did not wish to be near him yet; and having a stranger as well, it made it even more awkward.

"Um, yeah I did. You were on the phone with Jackie. I told you they were gonna join us and you said it was fine."

Donna pressed her lips tightly. She felt an enormous feeling of embarrassment inside, pulling her body deeper in the hard seat. But she remained calm; she did not want to show it in front of Hyde and his date.

* * *

Eric had been right. It was four in the afternoon when Donna was on the phone for perhaps two hours with her friend who was momentarily staying in Florida, discussing a million things, half of which Donna had forgotten the minute she hung up the phone. She was in her old room when Eric came in. "Hey," she waved him in. "I'm on the phone with Jackie," and brought the handle closer to her mouth. "Yeah? So he did ask you out?"

"Of course he did! I mean he was a pure example of desperation! You should've just seen him!" Jackie responded on the other line.

"And you said, 'no'?"

"Duh! You think I would go out with such a loser??"

"What was I thinking," Donna glanced up and smiled.

"But Donna, you would have agreed with me if you saw him! He was, and I repeat, was pathetic! It's always the best girls like myself that have to go through that torture of having losers attaching themselves on you like lice!"

"Well natural and rare beauty has its price in dating," Donna nodded; she knew Jackie would love the flattery in this comment.

Jackie sighed. "Exactly."

The redhead glanced at her boyfriend and noticed the expression on his face indicating that he was in a hurry. "Um, Jackie, could you hold on a sec?"

"Sure," Jackie responded.

Covering the speaker with her hand, she lowered the handle and focused her attention to Eric. "Yeah?"

"I talked with Hyde on the phone. We agreed for him to come with us tonight."

"At the movie?"

"Yep, he's also bringing a date. I wanted to ask you 'cause the way we planned this it was turning into a romantic-dinner-after-a-movie thing so if you don't want to..."

She had wanted to refuse that proposal but Donna decided quickly that it wouldn't have been right if she had done that to Eric; if she only knew how it would feel, close to awkwardness for her later in the night. "No, it's fine," she waved towards him.

"Ok," Eric smiled to this answer. "I'll see you at seven," and gave her a quick kiss before he exited her room.

Watching him leave, Donna gave a doubtful sigh and then brought the phone close to her ear again. "Yeah, sorry. Was making quick plans with Eric for tonight."

"Oh, you two still have some sparks?" Jackie asked with amazement.

"Gosh, Jackie, don't make it sound like it's the strangest thing in the world again," she collapsed her hand and smiled. Despite the lack of support which Jackie had of their Donna's relationship with Eric, as she once put it: "You love Eric... for some reason," Donna loved her; and she always appreciated Jackie's honesty.

"Ok... yeah, next subject. So the next day." As usual, the conversation, which happened to be mostly about dates, continued.

"Yeah, you did. I forgot." Donna acknowledged Eric's reminder and so as not to appear ridiculous, she turned around and stretched out her hand. "I'm Donna."

"Amber." Taking her hand, the blonde spoke in a surprisingly deep voice that did not suit her appearance.

"Nice," Donna nodded and turned around. "What a surprise," she thought and gave a smirk; a short glance to Hyde's direction followed.

Although it was short, Hyde could read the slight confusion in Donna's eyes. He was picking up strange signals from her, whether she had wanted to simply disappear or spend the rest of the night heavily annoyed for some reason. "She still hasn't let it go? What happened to her?" he wondered inside while having only the red locks of her long hair available for his view.

Donna soon gathered her remaining strains and turned to smile at Eric; the smile didn't look as genuine as Hyde had hoped. They needed to talk; their attitude required it. Although they met only twice since she returned to Point Place, the distance seemed already less tolerable and irritating. Or perhaps... could it disappear? For the past, whatever effect it had one them and especially Donna, to be forgotten to that extent like it never existed? That would prove difficult - something that even Donna knew if she had spared a thought for it.

Donna did not get the huge need for the start of a conversation and it was good that the movie had started; otherwise she would have been forced to talk. Keeping a firm grip on her box of popcorn she glanced over at Eric; she wasn't sure if it had been Hyde's 'unexpected' presence that prompted such thoughts or perhaps some deeper buried unexplained things, which somehow found the worst moments to push out thoughts of the direction in which Donna and Eric's relationship was heading. This idea for a drive-in movie had seemed less romantic than she had hoped. Once again she threw the blame on Hyde and Amber's presence but as she unnoticeably let out a sigh, Donna felt something, although with the presence of warmth, the coming coldness of something else. Taking another glimpse of his profile, she noticed something which had kept repeating for the past two years, a comfortable change in him and maybe in her as well. Popping a few grains of popcorn into her mouth, she focused her attention on the movie.

"Can I have some of that?" she heard Hyde's voice from behind.

"Didn't you get your own?" she asked while chewing.

"Later," he replied.

She sighed and held the box close to her shoulder. "Here," Donna 'offered' and felt the pressure his hand made while digging inside which nearly twisted her wrist. When the box felt lighter, much lighter, Donna brought it to her lap and saw that half of it was empty. "Gosh, Hyde, when did you become such a good popcorn digger?" she sounded slightly annoyed but realized how cheesy her question sounded.

Fortunately, Hyde did not let that embarrassing feeling be emphasized when he replied with a full mouth: "Hungry."

"Huh, simple answer," she said with a tone that only she could hear and clicked her head. "You're not getting another offering." Donna warned him and popped two more grains of popcorn in her mouth before she noticed Eric sticking his hand into the box. She felt relieved when she saw the small amount which he took. "At least he has more sense," she thought.

On the drive back, the guys had gotten a stupidly crazy idea to take a longer drive around Point Place before returning home much to the girls' dismay, especially Donna's.

The laughter was subduing from the last joke that Hyde said when Donna felt a sudden squeeze between her thighs. "Oh, shit," she thought and gripped her hips tightly. "Um." she glanced at her boyfriend. "Eric, could we stop for a minute?"

"Here?"

"Yep." She squeezed her lips. "I need to pee!"

"Can't you hold it 'till we get home?" he hoped.

She shook her head. "Please??"

"Just try?" he asked her nicely.

"Yeah, man, hold that cistern of yours for a while longer." Hyde smirked and only got a look from the redhead.

"Fine, but hurry home, ok??"

"Ok," Eric nodded and soon the car was picking up speed.

Perhaps ten minutes passed when they passed a small newly formed pond. "Aww, look, do you think there might be little ducks there?" Amber smiled.

Donna squeezed her lips again, making two big bubbles with her cheek. "Did she have to mention that??" she thought.

Hyde smiled. "Hey, Donna, feel like going to Niagara Falls tomorrow?" Amber had just given him a wonderful idea.

Donna didn't respond.

"I hear they're an amazing sight, particularly in summer!"

"Hyde... stop it," she hissed quietly before shutting her eyes. His sentences only contributed to the coming loss of control down there.

"And you know those tours with the boat that they do?" Hyde looked over at Amber and then Eric. "You can just feel the water falling down, so close to the falls!

"Hyde, shut up!" Donna warned him.

"Hey, I'm only trying to start a conversation here," he tried to say the sentence with a serious face but Donna's reaction was only fueling his teasing.

"Well, you've chosen a very bad one!"

"No, you know I was there two months ago with my cousins," Amber said. "It was -"

"Eric, please stop the car, I can't hold this any longer," she spoke quietly while trying to focus her gaze on him.

"Oh come on, Donna, can't you -" Eric glanced over at her.

"Just please pull over??!! Damn it!!" She shouted as she could feel her bladder would explode any minute.

Her last request was made so loud that it gave a long ringing in Eric's ear... poor boy. "Alright!" For his luck, two large trees and some bushes were close by where he pulled the car over.

When they felt a stop, Donna franticly opened the door and rushed outside and as quickly as her feet would manage. She soon hid behind the bushes.

Hyde could not conceal his laughter as he was letting it out loud and clear. Even Eric found it funny as he leaned his arm on the open window and laughed quietly. "You're evil, man," he told Hyde.

"Oh, I'm the devil's work," Hyde replied before releasing his laughter once more. Amber shook her head and only watched them with a semi-smile. "Are you two always so mean to her?" It hadn't been that she had found the joke distasteful but she felt sorry for Donna.

"Sometimes," Hyde said and opened the door, putting his foot on the ground.

"Are you sure you two weren't siblings in another life?" Eric asked him.

"Why do you say that?" the smile was still glowing.

"Because she so cruelly loves to do the same things to people."

"Ah," he clapped once and turned to Amber. "So it's payback," Hyde shrugged.

Amber rolled her eyes and opened the door. "I'm gonna use this opportunity to go pee as well." Exiting the car, she then shut the door and ran over to where Donna had gone earlier.

"Women... they're all the same," Hyde said.

"That's so true, man ," Eric confirmed and watched the blonde disappear behind the tall bushes.

By the time Amber had gotten to the spot, Donna was already buttoning up her jeans.

"Ah you're done," Amber said.

"Yeah, God, I'm gonna kill that guy," Donna shook her head and threw her hair back.

"Could you keep guard while I go as well? I've just met them and..."

"Sure," Donna smiled and turned her back before crossing her arms while Amber did her business. "Don't worry though, they're harmless."

Amber laughed. "They are?"

"Yep, but it's 'cause I'm here," Donna shrugged.

"How long have you known them?" A quiet sprinkling sound was heard.

"Since we were kids."

"So you know Hyde well then?"

"Unfortunately."

"What's he like on dates and stuff?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never had that "privilege" of ever going out with him," she said with indifference.

When they returned to the car, Amber sat down on her seat while Donna stood in front of Hyde with her arms across her waist.

"Had a good pee?" he sneered.

She snorted and leaned down, placing her hand on his left ear before snapping it sharply with her fingers. "Fuck, Donna!" he pulled back as he even felt something like a nail touching his skin deeper than it should have been.

"That's for ruining my underwear," she told him calmly.

"Oh yeah?" he looked at her and then grabbed her by her waist.

"What are you do-..." She soon got her answer when his fingers began crawling deeper in her weak, ticklish spots. "No! Stop that!" she warned him.

Naturally, Hyde did not listen to her and only got pulled away from the car when the redhead tried to run backwards. "No use, struggling, baby!" he chuckled. He could tell that she was struggling to avoid the laughter but it appeared nevertheless; it was a very loud laughter as well.

Even though Eric was enjoying this 'torturing' of his girlfriend he felt that it needed to be over. "Um, Hyde? Could you please let go of her now?" he asked him calmly. There was no response to that plea. "Hyde?"

Donna gripped his hands with hers with the intention of pushing them away but his grip appeared too tight which even surprised her. "Argh! It's no use, Eric!" she told him and glared at Hyde while trying to control her laughter. She then found a small spot behind his right ear and pinched him again, this time harder.

"Fuck!" he quickly released her while shutting his eyes tightly to the brief but sharp pain. Fortunately for him, his sunglasses were hiding this.

When she finally felt free, Donna took two steps back, pulled down her blouse and removed the few strains of her hair which had attached themselves to her face. "I know torture as well, Hyde," she told him before slowly walking over to the open door and returning to her seat. She heard Eric's satisfying laughter to her reaction which caused her to look at him. "He deserved it!"

"Yeah, yeah I know," he said before continuing the laughter.

"When did you start growing those?" Hyde asked her referring to her nails while he sat down.

"Since I saw that they could become very handy... like now," and turned to face forward. "Do you like them?" she lifted her left hand to show of the bare nails clearly in front of his view.

"Oh, they're gorgeous!" Amber suddenly jumped and grabbed her hand. Hyde only threw a bemused and not close to thrilled look. "Mine always break so I just put on false ones, but yours are wow..!" she almost spoke with admiration while observing Donna's nails.

"Thank you," Donna smiled and when the blonde was finished with her 'examination', she placed her hand on the seat's surface.

Hyde shook his head and took in a deeper breath before slamming the car door shut. "Women," he mumbled.


	7. chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

Rolling the blue pen on the empty paper's smooth surface, she blew off a few hairs which had disturbed the view in front of her. Using her hand as support for her head, Donna figured it would have just been easier to kill herself right now, mostly because of the growing boredom she was experiencing rather than to continue and torture herself for more inspiration when there wasn't any.

Her thoughts drifted away temporarily to last night and how normal her interaction with Hyde had been, probably because neither of them had wanted to expose the previous oddness between them and by the look on Eric and Amber's faces they had done a good job.

After they'd dropped the couple off, Eric had gotten out of the car to explain some directions to Amber. Hyde must've wanted this moment to happen because as Donna was watching the other two people she suddenly felt the smell of cologne and a quiet "Psst!" Turning her head, she saw Hyde leaning forward before removing his sunglasses. "Can we talk later?" he asked her with a quiet voice.

"Why?" she pretended not to know.

"It's been a long time, Donna."

"Yeah..." she looked down and bit her lip before returning her gaze to him. "I'm feeling a bit tired." The excuse was made.

He watched her for a while longer before putting his sunglasses on. Even though they appeared to be empty of words, both of them had many things to say each other. "I'll call you," he told her before he distanced himself from the car and joined the others.

He was right, they did need the talk. She glanced at the phone and started tapping her fingers on the desk. Exhaling, Donna then lifted her hands. "Yeah, why not," she said and was about to pick up the phone when it rang, surprising her. "Nice to see someone's thinking about me," she smiled briefly and answered the call. "Yeah?"

"Busy?" the hoarse voice asked.

Moving her eyes franticly across the room, it took her almost 4 seconds to respond. "Err, me? No, no."

"Wanna meet up?"

"Well you do keep your word," she told him.

"I do, don't I. So?"

She sighed. "Sure. When?"

"How's 'now'?"

Donna nodded. "Sounds good." She cleared her throat. "Where?"

A brief chuckle was heard. "How does in front of 'The Swinging Tree' sound?"

"Oh, man. No."

"Yeah, too early. The Hub?"

"Ok." She agreed. "I'll see you there."

"Cool," he responded before the line was disconnected.

* * *

When she saw him standing almost statue-like with his hands stuffed in his woolen green coat, Donna slowed her pace. She walked as quickly as she could because she did not wish to be late. Although inside she thought of the idiocy of this rush, still, Donna wanted to arrive there as quickly as possible.

It had gotten unusually cold today and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to warm her upper body.

She noticed a small line appear on his lips, presumably a smile which would eventually become a trademark of his, when he saw her. "The weather is sure lovely."

"It's fucking freezing," he snorted.

She looked around and was close to amazement at how only a few people could be seen here. "So should we talk here or..?"

He took the same turn in quickly examining their surroundings and then nodded behind her. "Since it's unbearable here we have two choices," Hyde began with his hands still hiding in his pockets. "One: we sit down somewhere for a drink or two: we can go back to my place."

Donna eyed him up. "Now I wish I was thirsty," she mumbled and unfortunately Hyde understood what she had said.

"Alright, my place then it is." There was that victorious smile on his face, growing to a grin.

"Fine," she shrugged and they began walking. There was nothing but disturbing silence between them. Silence partly because they both had wished to talk in a more intimate atmosphere, and the other reason was the pace which the wind was picking up so if any conversation had started they would end up shouting at each other just to hear what the other person was saying. Donna glanced at her friend. For some unknown reason she began feeling some tickling yet uneasy sensation and her consciousness did little to help with its continuous shouting: You should have picked another place!

"Oh lighten up, Donna," she told herself. "You're just gonna talk, what else could possibly happen? And besides, you gotta meet Eric later so you have an excuse to leave if things happen to drag on longer than they should."

Their walk had been short to Donna's and, if she only knew, Hyde's as well, relief, when after they found themselves standing in front Hyde's apartment. He dug inside the pocket of his pants which surprisingly did not appear to be jeans but rather tighter black pants.

"So did you change your underwear?" he looked over at her with a sneer while unlocking the door.

Donna pouted. She didn't reply verbally but punched him in the stomach before she entered inside when he opened the door. Her blue eyes traveled to every available piece of furniture that was in her sight, being oblivious to the sounds of the door closing behind her and its locking up. "Not much has changed," she said.

Hyde stood behind her when he said: "What _can_ change?" He expected her to turn around and look at him but the redhead had only remained in her place. It had been the long single braid in which her hair had been fashioned that had momentarily held him back. Donna did not experiment with her hair as much as Jackie had done but changes like this, although not frequent, were nice to see. But her clothing remained simple: a red tee and white pants.

The apartment itself was simply decorated for a reason that he hadn't been the type to fuss over such details. All the basic pieces of furniture were there: a green couch beneath the windows where two white curtains were hung, two old fashioned chairs of the same color as the couch, one stool, and a TV set in front of them. Donna was pleasantly surprised to see that the living room had actually been clean. "Wow," she said. "It's clean." She took off her coat and placed it on the stool next to the door; there were no hangers just yet. "You actually did this?" Donna finally turned to look at him, or at least only her head.

Hyde nodded and walked past her. "Yeah, it was a total pig's sty before and I was lacking room to move so..."

"Oh," she nodded sideways and returned her eyes to the wall. One wall was painted red, while another white. He had told her that when he bought the apartment the walls had these colors but Donna had doubts about it. There were two hallways leading out of the living room: one towards the bedroom and bathroom and the other towards the kitchen. The living room was directly linked with the main entrance door. Pulling her tee down, she stood next to one of the chairs and looked at the TV. On the wall above it was a framed and autographed Led Zeppelin record. She smiled. Donna had lost that album to Hyde on a stupid bet and for one which she regretted not being drunk. But it had been six years before and by now she gave up her occasional mention about her regrets of that silly little bet.

When she turned around, Hyde had already sat on the couch with his feet placed on the table. Donna sat down as well. For the first few minutes they only stared blankly at each other, not saying anything. It did not appear to be as uncomfortable as the previous walk had been.

"So..."

"So we can start with what happened to you this past year?" he asked her.

"Like?"

"Like why did you act like I've stabbed you with a knife or something."

"Yes." She nodded and took a deep breath. "Well for one thing, a lot of changes happened... some good some bad."

"Anyone died?"

Donna threw him an angry look but she soon relaxed. "No, no, nothing of that sort thankfully," she replied while waving her hand in front of her.

"Then?" his voice was as calm as always.

Despite her reactions, she liked it when it was like this. Sometimes his calmness suited her so well that it would ease her own nerves; Donna never quite figured out the source of that much less the reason.

"Well, I don't know if Eric told you but we broke off the engagement."

"Really?" He seemed hardly affected by it to Donna's surprise.

"Yeah. Um, it was more my idea actually."

"Why?"

"I felt we were sort of rushing into it, you know? Even if it didn't mean we were married yet. We're still... young."

Hyde nodded. Her confession had wanted to draw a smile on his face but he decided to hold it serious for a while longer. Even though he had been fairly supportive on his friends' engagement, Hyde had kept his rejections further down. It made Eric and Donna happy at the time; there hadn't been a reason to spoil that.

"How did he react?"

"Surprised... disappointed. But in the end... well, not that day but later I think he realized the same thing as me. It was simply too early." She stopped. "Did he mention this to you?"

"No, man, he didn't."

"Ok."

"So you're both cool about it now?"

"Yep. It's not like we've you know, broken up or... anything," she sighed and slipped her head between her hands before running them down on her hair.

"What else happened?" he folded his arms while quickly asking.

She looked at him and then leaned back on her chair. "I also did some pretty stupid things of which I should be ashamed but I'm not," a sneer appeared.

"Like what?"

"Eric and I were at this party on a Saturday and I know I wasn't drunk but still I don't know what possessed me to do it. I flashed one guy, went up to two others who happened to be there with their girlfriends and nearly French-kissed them!" She shook her head, as it was growingly difficult for her to hide her rising embarrassment. "Actually, now when I think about it, it was pretty stupid!"

Hyde smirked. Could she be returning her wild, untamed side which, if he were to be honest with himself, had missed it... like he had missed her?


	8. chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

Her eyes accidentally landed on the silver ring, sitting comfortably around his finger. "You still have that," she smirked.

He only took a brief glimpse of the object while his head did not move. "Why are you surprised?"

She shrugged and stood up. "I thought you might have hocked it by now," she said with only one half of the tone being a humorous one.

"I changed my mind at the last minute," he said and tapped his kneecap.

"Wow, how nice of you," she laughed.

"Yeah, well it's a cool gift. Besides, almost everyone here has moved away and..." he paused knowing this self-revealing short moment was one of those he avoided sharing. "It reminds me of you and the crazy shit we used to do in the past. That's a good enough reason for it to stay."

Her eyes absorbed the barely visible emotion on his face as she received a strange feeling that if she could budge slightly forward with a few words, she could actually reach deeper inside him. It was a challenge. She didn't smile and instead kept a serious and curious expression. "Nice to know my money didn't go to waste."

"No, it did not, man."

Donna nodded.

"Where's your ring?" he then asked her.

Donna looked at her hands. "Err, which one?" she asked.

"Forman's."

She momentarily froze at her breathing's blockage by a lump in her throat for two short seconds. Surprise came at her own reaction. Why? She returned the ring four months ago to him for reasons which... no, another time, she thought. "Gee, how'd you notice _that_?"

"Gee, I've seen it so many times before it engraved itself in my brain."

Her blue eyes rose up at his face. "Aha."

"Did you lose it?"

"What? No, no. I uh..." she began massaging the finger where the ring used to be. "I gave it back to Eric."

An eyebrow that almost reached the first front curls was raised on his face. "Really... Why?"

"I don't know. It started being too tight on my finger," she made an excuse but her body language with snakelike twisting of her waist and shoulders told Hyde otherwise.

Moving his lips for a while, Hyde hoped that his question would receive a, although justified and predictable, positive answer from her: "Are things alright between you both?"

The pupils in her eyes became slightly dilated. "Yeah, they've, uh, never been better."

His mind had trouble accepting her 'truth'. "Last summer... did that have anything to do with it?"

She tilted her head. "No." Donna looked at her hand. "It doesn't."

"Oh."

"He doesn't know," she then said.

There was a brief absence of words.

"You didn't tell him?" Although he was successfully hiding it, Donna's answer managed to disturb him.

She shook her head as a response.

"Why?" he leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

"I didn't feel there was a need for that." Her eyes remained on her hands.

"Again... why?"

"What difference does it make, 'why'?" she finally lifted her head with an almost sarcastic voice.

"So that's why my expectations of a fist in the face went down the drain."

"I doubt he would've done that now," she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." Quickly she ran her right hand through her red locks.

"Why didn't you tell him?" he pressed even despite knowing the nasty consequences which would follow if his friend found out.

His sudden, although still weak, pressure agitated her. "I don't know." She stood up and circled the chair. "Probably because it wasn't anything meaningful," she lifted her shoulders and crossed her arms.

"You think it wasn't." There was an absence of bewilderment at her reply.

"I just said that, didn't I?" She began pacing up and down with the nervousness climbing onto the pale walls of her skin. "Why did you have to say what you said back then?"

"What do you mean?"

She stopped, aggressively collapsing her hands close to her hips. "You know what I mean! Why did you have to tell me that I've become... boring or, or quieter or whatever bullshit you had to say!"

The sudden shift of behavior in the redhead did well to throw Hyde off the tracks of his familiar calmness and composure. "I never said you were boring."

"Well, you called me 'old'!"

"All I said was that you began losing that charming rebelliousness about you, that's all..." he slowly rose up. "But I see now, you got it back," he sneered.

"It's not amusing, Hyde."

"You've obviously changed. It's good."

"Is it?

"Yeah!" He paused. "Ok... now you're beginning to take this too... weirdly?"

"Of course I am! How else am I supposed to take it??" She suddenly stopped, realizing her behavioral change had surprised her even more. Gathering her hands inside her pockets, she crashed her look on the floor. "What were you trying to do with that back then?" Slowly, close to intimidation, Donna lifted her blue eyes to meet a closer version of Hyde's as he had taken a few steps closer to her.

"Only that you've changed."

She stared back at him, hoping for more but that had been the best answer she would receive and there was no use of wanting more. Donna didn't want to admit how his words continued spinning insanely in her head that summer, repeating themselves over and over again like an annoyingly broken record that wouldn't stop. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I wanted you to know what you should have realized. It's that side of you which makes you more attractive."

Donna pressed her lips tightly to his sentence.

"I meant other guys, don't wo-..."

"Why did you kiss me?"

"What?"

"That night. Why did you do it?"

"I already told you."

"You could've done something else. Yanked my shirt, my bra, whatever. You know what irritates me. Why did you have to kiss me?"

Being silent for a moment, Hyde observed Donna's eagerness for an answer with a feeling that begged for retrieval... at least for tonight. "It would've come out as the easiest way for you to react like you did."

"Is that what it was?"

"Yeah."

She could sense there was more behind it. Her eyes had barely suppressed the earlier exposure of unrest. "You know that that was pretty damn stupid of you, don't you?"

"No." His voice did not change at all as if he was taking their entire conversation as a meaningless joke.

"Well, it was."

"Thanks for 'clearing' that up for me, man."

"Hyde, again, this is not supposed to be funny."

"Well, fuck, Donna how else is it supposed to be?"

"I don't know, like more serious??"

He shook his head as if he was mocking her. "Alright, first: it didn't have the intentions which I'm sure are in your head right now; second: it took you longer to pull away as I recall and third..." he paused with doubts of whether he should say it. "Third..." he sighed. "People change, Donna... some things remain the same with them but everything else changes."

"And what's changed about you then?" she lifted her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

A huge tidal wave crashed upon Hyde's hope of her understanding. Turning his head to the side, he lowered it quickly and closed his eyes. Walking away from her, Hyde gathered the needed distance and then stopped. He returned his eyes to hers. "That kiss was not supposed to mean anything, at least to me. You, on the other hand seem to have taken it as something opposite. Why you didn't tell Forman I don't know. I'm happy that my... words had some impact on you but I'm not happy that you're turning this into an unnecessary drama."

"It's not a subject that can be treated lightly, Hyde."

He sighed with disapproval. "You really think I had some other intentions then?"

"I don't know," she almost whispered the words. "Did you?"

"Not in the way you think. I already said it many times that I wouldn't do that to Forman or you!"

"That didn't stop you in Jackie's cabin."

"That was different."

"Was it?" She felt uncomfortable asking him questions that appeared daring on the surface but with internal effects that were a combination of unknown weakness and plain fear.

He did not take her questions well. "You know me."

"You just said that people change."

"So what?"

"So you've changed then. It's been years. Eric's been away, I've been away, and things all in all do change."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that maybe..." She swallowed hard. "No, never mind."

"What?!"

"Nothing... forget it."

"Ah, that's something. First you begin with the implication that I may or may have not been hitting on you last year and now nothing?"

Donna tapped her foot nervously on the carpet which, thankfully, suffocated the noise enough for it to be unreachable to Hyde's ears. "Well the first part will do." She was sweating enormously on the inside, unsure where her accusations were leading her and it began freaking her out. What was she trying to accomplish? Was this helping? Sadly it appeared to be worsening the situation. "So were you?" She struggled to sustain her calm, cool exterior.

"Was I what?"

"Trying to..."

"Geez, Donna, don't be so ridiculous! Of course I wasn't! I already explained the reason way, way back then. Why do you have to complicate it?"

"I'm not complicating. I only needed a good answer." She looked nervously across the room for her coat.

"Donna, man..."

"I gotta go. I'll... I'll see you later," she spoke quickly and hurried to grab her coat.

"This wasn't the way our conversation was supposed to go."

Opening the door, Donna threw a quick glance at him. "Yeah, no shit," she said and closed it immediately behind her.

Rushing through the emptier streets, Donna shook her head. She was furious at herself. What being had possessed her to act so childish? She couldn't think much right now as the confusion from earlier clouded any logical thought. Her only goal now was to reach her house. Thankfully, that did not seem far away.

* * *

Shutting the door behind her, Donna walked to her bed and stopped in front of it. Trying to recoup her reasons for her behavior, her feet picked up on her earlier nervousness and began carrying her across the room in circles.

"It would've come out as the easiest way for you to react like you did," imitating Hyde's voice she then snorted without pleasure. "Sure, sure. God! What were you thinking? Both of you!!" Donna screamed inside at both her and Hyde as she was once more experiencing the moments after her abandoning Hyde at the lake. Even her heart appeared to have trouble deciding whether to follow her quick pace or continue its slow, gentle beats. She then stopped walking and focused her gaze on the wall in front of her, staring at something invisible to the eye. "Yeah, did some dilemmas get fixed by this?" she spoke sarcastically. Perhaps they could talk again? Perhaps they could try something more constructive next time. She shook her head. Bad time for such ideas. Turning her head to the right she found the desk in her view. Walking over to it, she then pulled out the stool and crashed down before pulling herself forward. Her hand began shaking as she needed to release words from her brain. She needed to do this quickly; otherwise she would begin experiencing the trembling of her entire body. Grabbing the pen almost aggressively she began forcing the words onto the gentle sheet of the paper.

The amount of time that passed was missed almost deliberately by her brain when the sudden and loud ringing of the phone shook her suddenly. Staring at it, she wanted to destroy it simply by looking at it. She was not in the mood for a conversation. She was in a different mood, something opposite of whatever feeling was closer to putting a smile on your face.

Donna hesitated. She hoped it wasn't Hyde. She did not wish to speak with him. She had labeled herself as a misguided, disoriented young thing that was in no condition to venture into a productive hour of verbal exchanges. Tapping her fingers on the desk, she noticed the stubbornness of the phone's annoying sound.

"Alright!" she almost broke her tongue with that word and grabbed the phone. "Yeah?" her voice was flat, trying to rid itself from any confusion or anger that was lurking around it.

"Hey, are you ready?" his voice took the complete opposition to hers.

"Oh err," Donna was temporarily trying to settle herself into a comfortable, calmer zone when she picked up Eric's voice. "Actually..." she looked down at the two pieces of paper, filled with words. "I can't... I'm gonna have to cancel." She needed to finish what she started.

"Oh, what's up?"

"Stupid headache," she said simply.

"Ok, well... tomorrow then?"

"Yeah. It's prefect." Donna nodded.

"Ok, hope you feel better, Donna."

"Thanks, Eric."

"Bye."

"Bye." She quickly placed the phone back in its place and continued putting the words down. Donna didn't want to lie to him like that but she did not want to be with anyone right now.

She wanted to be alone for tonight.

* * *

Hanging up the phone, Eric looked down and put his hand in the pocket of his pants. "Going out?" he heard his mother's voice as the older woman was walking down on the stairs. He looked up. "Change of plans," Eric responded.

"Oh good. Your father needs help with those darn shelves again. Could you?"

"Sure, mom," Eric smiled briefly and began walking out of the living room.

"Um, Eric?" Kitty called him.

"Yeah?" he turned around.

Putting her hands together she slowly began to walk towards him, feeling somewhat uncertain of bringing the subject to the surface. "Is everything ok between you and Donna?"

He pushed his head back, staring blankly back at his mother. "Why?"

"I don't know. I... well the interaction between you two has been rather different lately and I just wondered if you two were... ok." She nodded.

Eric shrugged. "Everything's great, mom," and flashed another, this time more convincing smile.

"You're sure?"

"Of course."

Kitty observed her son for a while and smiled apologetically. "I'm glad to hear that," she spoke softly and tapped his cheek gently before leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Turning around, Eric pushed the door to pass through. "Yeah," he told himself exhaustibly. "Everything is great…."


	9. chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

* * *

When she opened her eyes, the first things Donna saw were the scattered pieces of papers filled with her own handwriting. "Uh..." she huffed and slowly lifted her head with a stubborn page still stuck on her right cheek. She looked around and sighed. It had been a long night but what exactly she had done appeared vague to her. Her neck moved until a few cracks were heard, making her wince. She should have slept on the bed but the writing she did throughout the night tired her too much. Writing... She piled away the annoying paper and looked at it. It was filled with sentences from the top to the bottom but with words which made no sense.

She sighed annoyingly and scrunched the paper before throwing it in the small trash bin. "Fuck you, Hyde," she cursed tiredly to herself and got up to reach the bathroom.

* * *

Eric waited patiently at the water tower; a place of familiarity and storage of a thousand and more fond and not so fond memories of the past. He sighed and nodded slowly, knowing this was something that had to be done before it turned into something more unpleasant. He didn't wait long when the girl appeared with that tame smile on her face.

She kissed him. "Hey."

"Hey. Headache gone?"

She nodded.

"Good... that's good." He sighed.

The backward movement of his shoulders took her attention away from the light tone. "Something up?"

"Yeah." There was a longer pause. "Have you felt how things changed between us... lately especially?" They knew each other too much to start beating around the bush.

"Not just lately... longer."

"Yeah. It's actually getting to be weird now. Not bad weird but just... weird."

"I know what you mean. I...uh..." She scratched her ear. "I'm getting the roommate vibe now, I don't know why. Or maybe I do, but... with you... we are talking about us, right?"

"Yes, we are."

"Ok."

"What do you think it means?"

"I think we both know," she said and looked at him, a weak smile twinkling.

"Yeah. I thought this was going to be harder, with all that you and I've been through."

"Me too. One of us starting to cry... like you for example!" she said and chuckled.

"Ok, for the zillionth time, I wasn't the woman in the relationship."

"I never said you were."

"You sure treated me like that sometimes," he joked.

"Sorry. You're just so easy to tease. I think if I had a brother I would've liked him to be like you so I could tease him to death!"

"You know, I really have no doubts about that."

The silence on wind closed their lips for the new situation to sink into them from the words previously spoken. "It has been so long."

"Very long."

"We grew up, I guess."

"We did, didn't we. And from each other?"

"Mm. But not as friends."

"I hope not."

"So," he spoke it so easy that it even surprised and scared him. He swallowed. "Are you with me on this?"

It took her a moment, but she wasn't going to lie. "Yeah. I'm with you on that, Eric."

He smiled. "It doesn't hurt much."

"No, it doesn't. Should be strange."

"As anything else, yeah."

"They're right though. First loves can never let you forget them."

"I'm glad it's that way. It was nice being with you," she told him. "It still is... just in a different way."

Eric's smile was a softer one as he draped his arm around her. "It was awesome being with you, Donna," he said and kissed her cheek.

Donna watched him. Her stomach didn't spin, her heart didn't beat loudly or break; in fact it breathed a sigh of relief. "We had some pretty damn good times together, didn't we."

"The best."

Donna smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Eric," she said and squeezed his hand. She then stared at it numbly before looking up at him. "There's….something I have to tell you," there was a grain of nervousness.

"What?"

"You probably noticed that tension between Hyde and me."

"Yes."

"There's…was…uh, is a good reason for it."

"What is it?" he could sense something unpleasant.

"Last year, down at the lake….he kissed me."

Eric blinked. "What?"

"He kissed me, and I kissed him back this time. I don't know why I did it, I –"

"I do."

She stared at him with uncertainty. Donna was aware of the bad timing of this confession.

"You wanted to." He left her speechless. "Our relationship was slowly moving downhill then, but…" he shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me?" There wasn't any strong anger in it, but Donna managed to detect a tiny hint of hurt that slowly dissolved.

She bit her lip.

"Actually, why am I asking? You didn't the first time he kissed you."

"No, Eric, that was different back then."

"Because you didn't kiss him back?"

She swallowed a rough lump in her throat.

"Is there more going on here, Donna?"

Donna shook her head. "No, we didn't really talk afterwards until I came back," she shrugged. "I know this won't mean anything, but I'm sorry for not telling you." She sighed and then told him about the other incident at the lake. They had just ended their relationship but Donna hadn't rid herself of the guilt.

After he heard everything, Eric was silenced for a while. He looked down and took a few steps away from her. Donna remained where she was, watching and waiting for a response. Their first parting went so well….why did she have to throw this spiked steel ball in now?

"You know… I often asked myself, when we were together, why you picked me. You were always a great girl, or woman now. I thought that if our relationship did end for real, it would be a nasty break up, but not something…I don't know….mutual like this." He looked back at her. "If what you told me had happened a few years earlier, I probably would've gone postal." He smirked. "Now…I just wish you _had_ told me earlier."

"I'm sorry…." She didn't know what else to say.

"Did anything else happen beside that kiss?"

"No."

His silence was short. "I believe you." He then began to walk away.

"Eric?" Donna ran up to him. "Hey…are…are we ok?" she asked, wishing desperately her bad timing would not completely ruin everything.

He took the longer silence this time, wanting to innocently torture her with waiting. "Yeah, we are. Besides, I brought up the need for separation first." He shrugged.

She should've smiled, but just looked aside instead. Her hand soon felt his. It was probably his way of assuring her…probably. "And I probably won't invite Hyde to my next engagement party." He joked and walked away.


	10. chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of "That 70's show". They're not my property.

Author's note: Special thanks to **Jess**. :-)

* * *

She sat back in her chair, rolling the pen on the desk with her palm. Donna's thoughts kept going back to her meeting with Eric. What she felt, how, why... so many thoughts, although none of them chaotic. It felt strange, she had to admit to herself, but not painful. She wasn't surprised by what happened; somewhere in her and his previous thoughts and feelings that evening was floating inside, announcing its arrival sooner or later.

Donna stopped rolling the pen and gripped it gently. The relationship was over, but everything else remained. She sighed softly. She had always hoped that if it ever came to a break up that at least that friendship from early childhood years would remain. And it did. She smiled. It was good.

The young girl sat on the wooden boards familiar to her, witnesses of her many childhood and adolescent moments...

The words started flowing. 'Write what you know' had always been the general rule, and she might as well follow it.

* * *

Eric took out some lasagna from the previous night that his mother had made. She was always a good cook, he thought to himself. He wondered how Donna's cooking might have been in some year's time if they had decided to take that leap into marriage.

A brief smile. People change. Another brief smile. It felt strange but somehow right at the same time. The young years were theirs. The time to move on had been reached. They owed the rest of the years of their lives to others.

He took a slice of the lasagna.

* * *

Two weeks later.

"Well, Donna. 173,000 letters. That's how much response your story generated." With a satisfied smile, the editor sat down in his chair.

"Good or bad?"

"I'm smiling, aren't I?"

"Oh." Donna chuckled.

"So, now that you're on your way to becoming a regular writer here," He picked up a sheet of paper, "How about making your next one a longer story. Maybe an adventurous one."

"What?"

"The complaints we got about this story was that it was too short. Now, I am willing to extend if you're willing to write more."

Donna's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She grinned. "Are you kidding? I'd love to!"

"Good. I expect it to be ready before the usual deadline."

"Yes. I'll try. Thank you." Donna stood up, not being able to subdue her grin.

"That's all, Donna."

"Okay," Donna said and quickly exited the office.

* * *

Hyde was crouching down with the rag in his hand, polishing off the surfaces of the motorcycle. It was a ridiculously hot day today. He looked up at the sky. At least it wasn't going to rain. It wasn't what he needed for today.

The heat that was torturing him for the last hour was suddenly replaced by a cool, darker cover over him from a shadow. He quickly turned around and noticed those smiling, but strangely shy blue eyes looking back at him.

"Hey, Donna," he tried to sound casual.

"Hey, Hyde. Busy?" She nodded towards the motorcycle.

"No, I'm done. What are you doing here? I mean... when did you get here?"

"This morning."

"On a break again?"

"No, actually, on another assignment."

"Cool." He scratched his nose. "How's Eric doing?"

"Job hunting. We just keep in touch by the phone mostly."

"How come?"

Donna eyed him. "You sound surprised."

"I shouldn't?"

"Um, he didn't tell you..." she looked down. "I thought he had. Well, he told me you two had a couple of beers and a talk before we left."

"Yeah, we did. What was he supposed to tell me?"

She looked up at him. "We broke up. We're still friends, but..."

"Yeah, he told me that."

"Oh, good."

Hyde pressed his lips together. This seemed uncomfortable for him as he turned his head to the side.

Donna smiled. "It has nothing to do with that, Hyde. And yeah… I finally did tell him everything." She saw him look back at her.

"I know, he told me that, too."

"Oh… did things go ok with you both?"

"Yeah, oddly enough. He did make a point of not inviting me to his next engagement party, though."

Donna smiled briefly in response to this. She wished he could take off those sunglasses so she could see his eyes. They were such a beautiful color. It was a crime hiding them.

"So, it's over…"

"Yes, I guess it is….It was just something that we both saw coming."

"I'm sorry, man."

"It's nothing tragic, Hyde. We grew up. We both changed."

"Okay..."

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, uh, it's weird. I mean, you guys. I know you two really managed to screw up a lot of things in the past but..."

She smirked. "What, you think this is a mistake?"

"No, uh, whatever you two felt was right."

Donna nodded. "A little different than what I expected."

Hyde chuckled. "Yeah? And what did you expect?"

Clearing her throat, she continued. "You broke up?" She then turned around. "Okay, sorry to hear," and started walking away. She then stopped and turned again with a chuckle.

"Terrible impression, Donna."

"I know." She approached him with a soft smile. "But we're still friends, so that's what's more important to me. I would've been heartbroken if we even lost that..." her voice trailed off.

His hand reached her arm. "I'm glad."

She smiled and backed away. "Yeah, so... I'm here to finish another story. What about you?"

"Oh, uh, I was thinking of doing a tour around the country with my friend Harley here," he said and tapped the seat.

"You're leaving?"

"For a while, yeah."

"Oh," her voice was a sadder one. "When?"

"In an hour."

"So, I caught you just in time."

His hands were on his waist now. "Yeah, you did." He saw her nod.

She appeared disappointed. "Can't you postpone?"

"I was planning this for a while."

"It'll be lonely."

"I would think you got used to me not being around by now."

"Well, I won't be staying here that much..." she sighed.

"How much time do you have?"

"What?"

"Your story. How much time do you have?"

"A month."

"That's probably how long I'll be gone."

She tilted her head. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I can. Sorry, Donna, that's how it turned out."

"But, Hyde..."

"Can't make it shorter, sorry."

"Look..."

"Wanna come with me?" He interrupted her rather quickly.

She couldn't speak out of confusion, just stared back at him. "With you, on your... tour?"

"Yeah, I could use the company."

"Why?"

"Again, I could use the company." He paused. "To be honest, yours is the best anytime," he spoke honestly.

She smiled softly. "Gee, thanks."

"Hey, I am serious."

Donna chuckled. "I know." She glanced at the motorcycle. "Is it a real offer?"

"Yeah. We'll try our own rebel style for a while. Wanna have a go at it?"

Donna glanced at the motorcycle again. "I can't remember the last time someone used the word 'rebel' with me in the same sentence." She looked back at him and saw him smile. She wanted to give a try.

"It might give you a few story ideas," he said.

"Um, a month?"

"Yep."

"So if I go, we leave –"

"Now, yes."

She grinned. "Can you ... wait, until I get my stuff?"

"Don't have time." He took one of the helmets and threw it in Donna's hands. "Now or never."

"Oh, come on, Hyde. Let me take a few things."

"No time. You have your notebook and that's all you need. We'll find something on the way. Plus, I have a tent."

"Oh, that's very reassuring."

"Yes, it is," he grinned. "Coming?"

"Well, I really..." She didn't manage to finish her sentence when he grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the seat.

"No time for talk. Save that for later."

He was ahead of her and it made her smile. Next thing she remembered were her arms around his waist, the running road under them, and the wind caressing her face. She placed her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He smelled good; her arms tightened around his waist.

"Rebel, huh?" she thought and chuckled, letting out a sigh. This would be an adventure for her; she had a good feeling about it. It was even more assuring and better because he was with her. Steven Hyde... he always had a way of understanding what was beneath that exterior of hers. It scared her but at the same time it felt good to be understood in a unique way like that. She was happy to be taking this trip with him, with Hyde.

It was always better that way...

THE END


End file.
